Ecclesiastes 4:2

KJV1611 – Modern English

Therefore I praised the dead who are already dead more than the living who are yet alive.

Additional Resources

Other Translations

Referenced Verses

  • Eccl 2:17 : 17 Therefore I hated life, because the work that was done under the sun was grievous to me; for all is vanity and vexation of spirit.
  • Eccl 9:4-6 : 4 For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion. 5 For the living know that they shall die, but the dead know nothing, nor have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. 6 Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun.
  • Job 3:11-26 : 11 Why did I not die from the womb? Why did I not expire when I came out of the belly? 12 Why were there knees to receive me? Or why breasts that I should nurse? 13 For now I would have lain still and been quiet, I would have slept: then I would have been at rest, 14 With kings and counselors of the earth, who built ruins for themselves; 15 Or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver: 16 Or as a hidden untimely birth I would not have existed; like infants who never saw light. 17 There the wicked cease from troubling; there the weary are at rest. 18 There the prisoners rest together; they do not hear the voice of the oppressor. 19 The small and great are there; and the servant is free from his master. 20 Why is light given to him who is in misery, and life to the bitter in soul; 21 Who long for death, but it does not come; and dig for it more than for hidden treasures; 22 Who rejoice exceedingly, and are glad, when they can find the grave? 23 Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden, and whom God has hedged in? 24 For my sighing comes before I eat, and my groanings are poured out like water. 25 For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, and what I dreaded has happened to me. 26 I was not in safety, nor had I rest, nor was I quiet; yet trouble came.

Similar Verses (AI)

These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.

  • Eccl 4:3-4
    2 verses
    83%

    3Yes, better is he than both, who has not yet been, who has not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.

    4Again, I considered all the toil and every right work, that for this a man is envied by his neighbor. This is also vanity and vexation of spirit.

  • Eccl 9:3-6
    4 verses
    77%

    3This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event to all: yes, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that, they go to the dead.

    4For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion.

    5For the living know that they shall die, but the dead know nothing, nor have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.

    6Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun.

  • Eccl 4:15-16
    2 verses
    75%

    15I considered all the living who walk under the sun, with the second child who shall stand up in his place.

    16There is no end of all the people, even of all who have been before them; they also that come after will not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and vexation of spirit.

  • Ps 115:17
    75%

    17The dead do not praise the LORD, nor any who go down into silence.

  • Eccl 2:15-18
    4 verses
    75%

    15So I said in my heart, "As it happens to the fool, so it happens even to me. And why was I then more wise?" Then I said in my heart, "This also is vanity."

    16For there is no more remembrance of the wise than of the fool forever, since what now is will all be forgotten in the days to come. And how does the wise man die? Just like the fool.

    17Therefore I hated life, because the work that was done under the sun was grievous to me; for all is vanity and vexation of spirit.

    18Yes, I hated all my labor that I had labored under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who will come after me.

  • Eccl 8:10
    74%

    10Then I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of the holy, and they were forgotten in the city where they had done so. This also is vanity.

  • Eccl 4:1
    73%

    1So I returned and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold, the tears of those who were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power, but they had no comforter.

  • Eccl 7:2
    73%

    2It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for that is the end of all men, and the living will take it to heart.

  • Job 3:21-22
    2 verses
    72%

    21Who long for death, but it does not come; and dig for it more than for hidden treasures;

    22Who rejoice exceedingly, and are glad, when they can find the grave?

  • Eccl 3:22
    72%

    22Therefore I perceive that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who can bring him to see what shall be after him?

  • Isa 38:18-19
    2 verses
    71%

    18For Sheol cannot praise You, death cannot celebrate You: those who go down into the pit cannot hope for Your truth.

    19The living, the living, he shall praise You, as I do this day: the father shall make known Your truth to the children.

  • Eccl 4:7
    71%

    7Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun.

  • Eccl 2:11-12
    2 verses
    71%

    11Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done and on the labor I had toiled to do; and behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.

    12I turned to consider wisdom, madness, and folly. For what can the man do who comes after the king? Only what has already been done.

  • Ps 49:18
    71%

    18Though while he lived he blessed his soul: and men will praise you, when you do well to yourself.

  • Eccl 6:5-6
    2 verses
    71%

    5Moreover, it has not seen the sun nor known anything: this has more rest than the other.

    6Yes, even if he lives a thousand years twice over, yet has seen no good: do not all go to one place?

  • Eccl 2:24-25
    2 verses
    71%

    24There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and enjoy the good of his labor. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God.

    25For who can eat, or who can have enjoyment, more than I?

  • Eccl 3:15
    71%

    15That which is, has already been; and that which is to be, has already been; and God requires an account of the past.

  • Eccl 11:8
    71%

    8But if a man lives many years, and rejoices in them all, let him remember the days of darkness, for they will be many. All that comes is vanity.

  • Eccl 8:14-15
    2 verses
    70%

    14There is a vanity which is done upon the earth: there are just men to whom it happens according to the work of the wicked; again, there are wicked men to whom it happens according to the work of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity.

    15So I commended joy, because a man has no better thing under the sun than to eat, drink, and be merry; for this will remain with him in his labor the days of his life, which God gives him under the sun.

  • Ps 6:5
    70%

    5For in death there is no remembrance of You: in the grave, who shall give You thanks?

  • Eccl 3:12
    70%

    12I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives.

  • Eccl 6:8
    70%

    8For what has the wise more than the fool? what does the poor have, who knows to walk before the living?

  • Eccl 1:9-11
    3 verses
    70%

    9The thing that has been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.

    10Is there anything of which it may be said, See, this is new? It has already been in ancient times, which were before us.

    11There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those who will come after.

  • Eccl 2:20
    70%

    20Therefore I turned my heart to despair over all the labor which I had done under the sun.

  • 1 Pet 4:6
    70%

    6For this reason was the gospel preached also to those who are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.

  • Eccl 1:2
    70%

    2Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.

  • Eccl 9:10
    70%

    10Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave where you go.

  • Eccl 12:8
    70%

    8Vanity of vanities, says the preacher; all is vanity.

  • Eccl 6:3
    69%

    3If a man begets a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, yet his soul is not filled with good, and indeed he has no burial; I say, that a premature birth is better than he.

  • Lam 3:6
    69%

    6He has set me in dark places, like those long dead.

  • Ps 146:2
    69%

    2While I live, I will praise the LORD: I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

  • Eccl 6:11
    69%

    11Since there are many things that increase vanity, what advantage does man have?

  • Eccl 1:14
    69%

    14I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and indeed, all is vanity and a striving after wind.

  • Eccl 3:19
    69%

    19For that which befalls the sons of men also befalls beasts; one thing befalls them: as one dies, so dies the other; yes, they all have one breath; so that a man has no advantage over a beast: for all is vanity.